A Firebender's Smile
by My Silver Wound
Summary: [Hiatus] When Sokka becomes Prince Zukko’s prisoner and takes a journey to the Fire Lord’s Kingdom, he will learn the true nature of a certain Firebender. My very first Avatar fic. Should have a really nice ending. Rating may change.


Chapter 1-Capture

"I hope Zukko doesn't catch up to us," Aang remarked idly. Only silence responded to him, as it remained for nearly an hour.

"You know, I have never seen that guy smile—not even once!" I said randomly in attempt to create conversation that would fill the silent void around us. Katara nodded absent-mindedly, but no one spoke.

A few hours later, silence was the only sound around us. Sunset was creeping nearer and Appa was growing weary, but there was no land for us to camp—only water as far as the eye could see. Finally Katara spoke.

"Is that Zukko's ship?" she queried in alarm.

"Oh, no," Aang groaned in reply, "it _has_ to be him."

"What do we do?" I asked.

"Maybe if we don't make any sudden moves, no one will see us," Katara suggested.

"I guess it's worth a try," Aang said with a shrug. About that time, balls of fire exploded from below and hurdled toward us.

"And, just guessing, Plan B is 'try to dodge fire balls and stay alive'?" I commented as Appa wove between the flames.

The blazing weapons flew in every direction toward us. Aang was trying his best to steer Appa to dodge each flame, but Appa simply couldn't dodge all of them. It was only a matter of time before someone was hurt, and I knew we had to get out of there. But there was no way to escape.

From Appa's saddle where Katara and I sat holding on for dear life, wide-eyed and shaken, we could hear Prince Zukko bellowing commands. Strangely it seemed as though he was almost screaming pleas at his soldiers, rather than orders. Staring down at the ship below, I wondered somewhere in the back of my head why it meant this much to him.

Without warning, a wad of fire zipped right past me, grazing the side of my face. Pain seared through every muscle in my body as the blaze passed. I heard Katara shrieking, and though she was right beside me, she sounded so far away. I turned to face her, but she wasn't there.

With wide eyes I stared down to the sea below me as I plummeted through the sky. I heard Katara's desperate cries growing more and more distant. As I gazed down, I saw Zukko's ship growing closer and closer. Moments later, pain overcame my senses. I plashed into the ocean right in front of the ship, and everything faded to a vast black nothing.

* * *

I woke to a small barred room. The air around me was freezing—even colder than home. Two torches lit the hallway of identical rooms around me. After a moment, I realized what they were: prison cells. I was a prisoner—but to whom? I didn't remember… 

Slowly things began to come back to me. I remembered falling. I had to be on Prince Zukko's ship, which also meant I was his prisoner.

Light flooded the hallway abruptly as a door wailed painfully upon opening. Then it was gone, and footsteps echoed off of each wall. The figure of a person moved down the hallway. Vainly I attempted to sit up, and the pain tore through me.

The light fell across the figure, illuminating Zukko's solemn face. As I looked up at him, his harsh gaze fell over me, and it was like stones pelting my mind. Slowly and distantly, he spoke.

"You're up. Good."

"How long have I been here?" I couldn't resist the question. Zukko shrugged.

"A couple of days, I think." He slid a bowl of some vile concoction, with a smell that caused my stomach to ache, through a hole in the bars at the bottom of the cell door. I didn't touch it.

"So, what will happen to me now?" I wondered, fearing what kind of sick and brutal answers could come.

"You're being transported to Ozai's kingdom," he responded bluntly.

"Ozai? The _Fire Lord?"_

"Yes. The Fire Lord."

"But…why? What use am _I_ to him?"

"Simple. You're bait."

"Bait?" I definitely didn't see where this was going.

"Yes. For the Avatar." Zukko turned to leave, but there was one more thing burning inside me.

"You know, I've never seen you smile. Why is that?" Zukko turned and glared for a moment.

"If you knew anything of my past, you'd know I have no reason to smile," he replied sharply. He turned once more to leave, and as he did I wondered why he hadn't punched the daylights out of me. The door screamed as it opened, and light filled the hallway again; and as the loud cry of the door was heard again upon its closing, all went to darkness once more.

Authors Note: Okay this is totally random. Just an FYI: This was actually before the Winter Solcist episodes, and so naturally it was written before we discover Zukko's past in The Storm. So I am going to put mine and my sister's version of his past in here, and if you don't like it, bite me. So Sokka has never seen him smile, though we have. Oh, and sickos and perverts: THIS STORY IS NOT SOKKA/ZUKKO! SORRY TO DISAPPOINT YOU (Hopefully, it didn't…) Sorry, I had to get this message out. It's very important that everyone knows this, just so there is no confusion and I don't get chewed out in reviews and emails because I'm creating gay relationships, like I was with September Tears…Anyway, I hope you like this, it should turn out to be a really cool as well as sweet story. Read and review! And yes, I know. I spelled Zukko's name wrong. I promise the first time I saw it on it was spelled with two k's. It looks better that way LPL, Tina


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